Current innovations in the Czech pre-school education
3. The two-year-old children‘s process of education in kindergartens
The general goals and plans set for education, which are contained in the national curriculum document titled General Education Program for Pre-School Education, are suitable for educating children aged two or three as well. However, during their education process, it is necessary to realize the specific aspects of their development and the potential levels in all the areas of the child’s development. Twoyearold children express their strong desire to learn. They experiment, discover, and learn through all of their senses. The children are usually very egocentric. They do not have space and time orien
tation, living in the presence and the situations that fulfil the presence. The children are less skilled during physical activities. Of course, compared to older children, they have much more limited experiences. They learn through imitating, situational learning, their own experiences, and mainly games.
They often require repeated activities since they need regular rituals. The children usually stay focused for a very short time. Successful pedagogical work requires the organization’s sensitive adjustment based on alternating activity of
fers, habit and practical skill training, leaving the biggest possible room for free
games and physical activities. However, the individual differences in particular areas of development of children of this age may be quite significant.
When twoyearold children join a kindergarten, it is often their first social experience outside of their wider family. The children learn the new behav
ioural patterns of adults and their peers and generate their own space. On the other hand, they receive set borders and new roles. They define themselves towards others and become independent. The children usually show their stronger need for relationships with an adult. That is why the teacher holds a very important position. He or she represents the parent and provides the child with security and support during daily activities and development of relationships with the child’s peers.
The teachers had accepted children to kindergartens even before this amendment of the Education Act became effective out of their good will and beyond their duties. At those locations where no nurseries were available, multiclass kindergartens would establish the socalled nursery classes, which were only for twoyearold children. Their classroom equipment, daily re
gimes, and teachers’ work times were adjusted to them. Other kindergartens would add their twoyearold children to their younger children, i.e. to classes with children aged up to four. However, parents were not automatically enti
tled to have their twoyearold children accepted.
3. Methodology
In connection with the parents’ current enforceable possibility to place their twoyearold children in a kindergarten, one question seems timely: What is the kindergarten teachers’ attitude to accepting twoyearold children? Their positive attitude affects the success and speed of the child’s adaptation pro
cess and also their parents’ relationship to the kindergarten personnel and preschool education. A child is vulnerable and completely depends on a still completely unfamiliar person who spends with him/her the bigger part of the day. The child needs a lot of help, care, encouragement, and support.
The teachers have their cleancut opinion of accepting twoyearold children to kindergartens. We estimate that they will not be positive about accepting twoyearold children to kindergartens. The child is very young, needs a lot of individual care and bound relationship with an adult, which is quite exhaust
ing both physically and mentally in a group of up to twenty eight preschool children requiring from six to six and a half hours of daily teaching work.
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It is assumed that those teachers who currently have no twoyearold chil
dren in their classes will reject their acceptance less than those teachers who already have them in their classes. The rejection of twoyearold children is directly proportional to the age range in an ageheterogeneous class. A big age range of children’s ages in an ageheterogeneous class brings more frequent rejections of twoyearold children acceptance. It is also necessary to find the teachers’ reasons for rejecting the acceptance of twoyearold children.
4. Results
Out of the 175 kindergarten teachers who answered our survey question 85 teachers, i.e. 48.6%, already had at least one twoyearold child in their classes. Out of the surveyed group, 34 teachers, i.e. 19.4% of them, had a two
yearold child in their classes sometime in the past, and the rest, i.e. 56 teachers, which is 32% of the surveyed teachers, did not have any twoyearold child in their classes so far; however, some of their kindergarten colleagues had or had had a twoyearold child in their class; therefore, these teachers have some information on twoyearold children or episodic experiences.
Out of the 85 teachers who currently have a twoyearold child in their classes, 54 teachers, i.e. 63,5%, clearly disagree with their acceptance, 24 teachers, i.e. 28,2%, agree with it under specific circumstances, and only 7 teachers, i.e. 8,2%, definitely agree with their acceptance. Out of the 34 teachers who had a twoyearold child in their class sometime in the past, only 2 teachers, i.e. 5,9%, definitely agree with their acceptance, while 12 teachers, i.e. 35,3%, agree with it under specific circumstances, and the rest, 20 teachers, i.e. 58,8%, definitely disagree. Out of the 56 teachers who have no direct experience with educating a twoyearold child, 22 teachers, i.e. 39,3%, strongly rejected the acceptance of twoyearold children to the kindergarten; while 34 teachers, i.e. 60,7%, agreed with it under specific circumstances, and no teacher agreed with the acceptance.
Our assumption was not confirmed. The reality is much worse. The teach
ers with direct experience of educating twoyearold children clearly indicate that twoyearold children are not to be accepted to kindergartens, and this position also prevails among those teachers whose classes have never involved twoyearold children yet.
Out of the 54 teachers who definitely disagree with accepting a twoyear
old child to a group of kindergarten children, 34 teachers, i.e. 63%, stated that
their class age range was 2–5 years, 4 teachers, i.e. 7,4%, stated that a class for children aged 2 to 4 was created, and the rest, 16 teachers, i.e. 29,6%, stated that a twoyearold child was accepted to their mixed age class. Interestingly, only two teachers of this last group stated that those were singleclass kinder
gartens. In this case our dismal assumption was not confirmed either. The results are even worse. The class age range may be a factor that significantly affects the rejection or acceptance of a twoyearold child for education. The 16 cases out of 54 represent a relatively big number of situ ations in which
a twoyearold child joins a class of children aged up to six or even seven.
During the next phase, we searched for the teachers’ reasons for rejecting the acceptance of twoyearold children.
The following information was obtained:
• The teachers would, in individual cases, consider the acceptance of two
yearold children, providing there are two teachers supporting their class for the majority of the day. Based on their statements, this does not happen so far due to the lack of funds for their salaries.
• We asked the teachers whether they wished to be helped by a nanny or assistant teacher, and 16 teachers said that she was a “disturbing element” in their classes. A nanny or assistant teacher do not have the same education, do not use the same approach to children, the same view of work with the child as the teacher, and they must be explained a lot and persuaded. This costs time and energy… which they could provide to the child. They prefer another teacher in their classes. The other group would welcome a nanny or assistant teacher; however, only in some cases when they could call them as needed. They reject a nanny’s permanent presence in their classrooms as well.
• All the teachers who somehow agree with the acceptance of twoyear
old children to kindergartens and those who disagree formulated the following position: A two-year-old child is vulnerable and socially im-mature to be among the children in their kindergarten. Adults are insensi-tive when they bring such a child to the school. The country’s social system should find another way of assisting parents who need to have their two-year-old child accepted to kindergarten.
Other opinions:
• There is a difference between a twoyearold child and threeyearold child. The teachers decided to study pedagogy and joined their kinder
gartens with their understanding that the youngest child they would ever
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teach is three years old. It is a critical change of their work conditions during their employment.
• A group of children aged from two to seven (some classes have children with postponed school education as well) shows extremely different needs of various age groups. It is quite problematic and very demand
ing to satisfy their needs.
• It is very complicated to provide education when one’s class includes a twoyearold child and also children with their special education needs, and inclusion is to be applied.
5. Conclusion
The rejection or acceptance of a twoyearold child to education certainly depends on additional factors, which were not included in this work, e.g. one’s length of teaching practice, the teacher’s preferred class age composition, teach
ers’ personal qualities, conditions in their kindergartens, or other factors. How
ever, it will be also necessary to create conditions for teachers to accept two
yearold children. When allowed by the local conditions, classes should not show any significant age differences. Also, school leadership teams must secure supporting teaching teams in the form of a nanny, assistant teacher, special teacher, or other necessary experts. Most importantly, the teachers should work at their fulltime positions, and their sufficient overlaps should be secured.
The teachers’ attitude to the acceptance of twoyearold children to kin
dergartens may only change in connection with the change of factors they themselves identify as factors which negatively affect their attitude to the acceptance of twoyearold children to kindergartens.
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